News from Kingston Ontario

Former Prison for Women Put Up for Sale by Queen’s University

On Friday, the Queen’s University Media Centre posted the following release:

Queen’s University has placed an eight-acre parcel of land for sale that once housed the federal Prison for Women.

The university was not able to identify any viable options or plans to utilize the property, which is located at 40 Sir John A Macdonald Boulevard. Proceeds from the sale will go to the university’s capital reserve for use in future projects.

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Queen’s has engaged Rogers and Trainor Commercial Realty Inc. to facilitate the sale. Queen’s University reserves the right to reject any or all offers, not necessarily accept the highest offer, and the right to accept any offer that may be in its best interest.

The Prison for Women (P4W) was established in 1934 with the first female inmates arriving on January 24th of that year.

Previously, maximum security female prisoners were housed in the Female Department of the Kingston Penitentiary located across King Street, as depicted in the current CBC / Netflix mini-series “Alias Grace“.

P4W was the only federal women’s penitentiary in Canada until being decommissioned in 2000. Queen’s University took ownership of the property in January, 2008.